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We have all read about ' daur e jahiliyya ' , the period before the advent of Islam. Some of the key features that astonished us when we were in school were that, feuds between tribes stretched for generations on insignificant matters like whose horse would first drink water from a well! It is later, that I read more on this period and learnt some good as well as far worst things but most of us have only this memory of our education about ' daur e jahiliyya ' . This period was like any other period in human history. Very much like our own period. Each ' daur e jahiliyya ' promises the coming of a Messiah, like ' daur e jahiliyya ' before Christ foretold his arrival and a Prophet always came to deliver the world from its social evils until our own last Prophet. What about now? The very religion that our Prophet brought has been wickedly distorted and Koran, a guide for all times to come, has been grossly misinterpreted to spread the ver...

While waiting for check in at Heathrow, a middle aged lady carrying a smart Coach bag, clad from head to toe in black abaya and hijab , her shimmering face showing came to me and asked if I would carry her extra luggage for her! Shocked that she could even ask me such a question I tried to politely tell her that I didn't have any space, she blatantly lied and said she would have returned her extra luggage with her family but they had already left, whereas I could see them standing in a corner and waiting for the outcome of her adventure. This was a prelude to stranger things to come. On the plane, nothing less than a PIA, one out of two economy class toilets went 'out of order' ten minutes into our flight, causing at least half an hour waiting queues. Steward on duty to serve our aisle was too macho to serve us even water, let alone ask if we needed anything. My request for a blanket was ignored with not even a return 'sorry we don't have any more' note. We fel...

I am amazed that we don't notice change while it happens. Maybe because it is so slow- one micro pixel at a time! Though we do notice change when it has happened, we notice it when it is too late, we notice it to record an absence. For instance, Facebook will, I am afraid, irreversibly change our attitudes to relationships with people and things in times to come. At least we have known another era, kids growing up in FaceBook era won't know any other reality. To start with everyone in our contact list is a 'friend'. I might add my parents but when they join Facebook, they will have to be my 'friend'! My husband is my friend, so are my siblings. Oh yeah that girl I met last weekend on the beach who was very friendly and wanted to add me to stay in touch-is also a friend! What about that annoying guy in high school whom I was so happy to have lost in my life but now he has added me (I accepted his 'friendship because he was a friend of a friend and I didn'...